Kimkim Trip Reviews for Indonesia

Marc Urban, specialist and coordinator for my recent Indonesian travel is exceptional. I would rate him with additional stars. Marc went above and beyond throughout our planning process, addressing all the details, particular interests and needs. Marc is an exceptional and attentive communicator. Many thanks to him for a beautiful time spent in Indonesia. And thanks to guides Dian and Budi for teaching me so much. As well as, drivers Rifky and Edi. Their kindness is immeasurable. This is my second experience traveling via KimKim. It’s the way to go with custom travel.

Both our drivers were excellent. The hotels were lovely except the ibis in Surabaya which was fine. The Plataran hotel at bromo was fabulous. The M-gallery at solo was lovely although many of the things we tried to order (drinks and food) were not available as it was getting back on its feet post Covid. The M-gallery in Yogyakarta was also lovely and seemed to have everything we ordered. Its location is great as it’s near the Main Street. It was expensive though as tax and service were not included in its prices. The sunrise at bromo was great. The temples near Solo were lovely albeit not as spectacular is the ones near Yogyakarta. You need cash for tipping and some guidance on this might be helpful. You also need cash for visa on arrival. The traffic in the cities is very bad. Not as bad as Hanoi but progress is slow. Motorways work well. We bought some excellent batik at very good prices in solo and an artwork batik in Yogyakarta. We really enjoyed all the arranged tours.

Hotel Reviews

The Royal Surakarta Heritage - MGallery Collection

Authenticity & Character

Looked much older than it was but done so well it added to the experience.

Location

Beautiful hotel.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Phoenix Hotel Yogyakarta - MGallery Collection

Yogyakarta

Lovely hotel near the best shopping and eating street.

Authenticity & Character

Looked fabulously traditional despite being fairly new. Felt authentic.

Location

Short walk to great street food and restaurants, bars and shops. Near railway station.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Grand Dafam Signature International Airport Yogyakarta

Great brand new hotel. Lovely view from out north facing room. Really nice staff. Still awaiting an alcohol licence so we could not order the cocktails we wanted.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Perfect for the airport. Free transfer. At 5 am.

Staff

They provided us with a hot pack up breakfast with coffee at 5 am. Lovely check in staff too. Really helpful. New hotel so some staff appeared to be still being trained. But everybody was great.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ibis Surabaya city center

It’s did what it said on the tin. But nothing outstanding.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Plataran Bromo

Wonokitri

Lovely hotel. Very beautiful and classy. Great service.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Prambanan: Indonesia’s Largest Shivaite Temple Complex

Yogyakarta

Like a smaller older Angkor Wat.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Borobudur: A UNESCO World Heritage Site

Yogyakarta

Quite a long way from Yogyakarta in terms of travel time. But it’s an amazing Buddhist temple. Sadly you can’t go into the temple post Covid but still fabulous to walk around.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Puppet & Batik making

Yogyakarta

Lovey quality of craftsmanship. We bought a beautiful batik created by our guide. No pressure to buy which is nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sultan Palace

Yogyakarta

Lovely palace. But mostly exhibitions showing the life of Sultans.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Kraton & Taman Sari in Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta

Really nice palace. Sadly underground mosque closed due to Covid hangover.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sukuh & Cetoh Temple

Solo

Long but interesting drive. Very nice fairly small temples.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunrise from the Mount Bromo Caldera

Indonesia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bumpy. Early start but great trip.

The trip was amazing my favorite part was the Munduk Plantation Resort. It had an amazing view. My personal driver was also very nice and always on time.

Hotel Reviews

La Joya Biu Biu Resort

Jimbaran

Besides the Munduk Plantation Resort, This was an amazing hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Private cruise trip in Komodo National Park

Labuan Bajo, Indonesia

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Puri Santrian

Denpasar

The hotel is Nice because it’s right next to the beach. But the rooms are very outdated

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Munduk Moding Plantation - CHSE Certified

Gobleg

This is probably one nicest and best hotel I stayed at. The view from the infinity pool was amazing

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Adiwana Bisma

Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

De Moksha Eco Friendly Boutique Resort

Tabanan

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Visit Bali's Most Beautiful Beaches & Explore Uluwatu Temple

Jimbaran, Bali

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Komodo Cruise Day 3

Indonesia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Komodo Cruise Day 2

Indonesia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Komodo Cruise Day 1

Indonesia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Experience Ubud VW Safari Car Tour

Ubud, Bali

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Travel from Munduk to Ubud via Jatiluwih Ricefield & Batukaru Temple

Indonesia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free Day - Munduk

Munduk, Bali

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Banjar Hot Springs

Indonesia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Aling Aling Waterfall- short trek

Munduk, Bali

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Travel from Tanah Lot to Munduk via Taman Ayun Temple and Pupuan Road

Indonesia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our guide Dennis, and our driver Surya were excellent. Also, at Ecolodge in Bukit Lawang, our guide Zul and the assistant, Jat were a very good team for finding orangutans and birds.
The trip overall was exciting and mind-broadening.

Hotel Reviews

Tabo Cottages

Sumatera Utara

Nice location, nice rooms, good food, staff very friendly and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sinabung Hills Berastagi

Berastagi

Very short stay so hard to say, but was very clean and nice.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Emerald Garden

Medan

Clean, decent pool, good breakfast buffet.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Closer to airport if just staying there for the convenience before flying out.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ecolodge Bukit Lawang

Bukit Lawang

Hotel rooms very basic, not in a bad way, but because the hotel is ecologically -oriented, some features, such as no hot water for the showers, may not be good for everyone. It was fine for us.

Authenticity & Character

Very committed to the environment

Location

Great place for orangutans

Staff

Friendliness, and helpfulness

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Travel from Samosir to Medan Airport via Pematang Siantar

Indonesia

Long but good driver, interesting sights.

Travel from Bukit Lawang to Berastagi

Indonesia

Good driver, interesting sights.

Sunrise Mount Sibayak Trek & Travel to Samosir Island

Indonesia

Long drive but good driver, good sights.

Trek Leuser Park - Day 3

Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra

same as day 1

Quality of Experience

Trek Leuser Park - Day 2

Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra

same as day 1

Trek in Gunung Leuser National Park

Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra

Orangutans very easily seen. Our guide and assistant very good at spotting and identifying birds, which is not usual for them, we felt, but they were very open to helping with the birds.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Alisha did an incredible job organising our entire trip throughout Bali. We experienced a mix of all the things we requested and much more due to having a wonderful and attentive driver, Ketut.

Ketut was friendly, informative, punctual and reliable- our trip was incredibly flexible and we really appreciated his attitude

Thank you again.

It was a great trip!
Very friendly and helpful drivers
Nice hotels - we especially liked Jogja Village Inn!
We liked having private guides at both Borobodhur and Prambanan in order to learn more about the history
We definitely couldn't have explored Indonesia without kimkim!
Thanks kimkim for another great trip! Hopefully we will be able to use kimkim for our future travels!

Hotel Reviews

Bromo Cottages

Pasuruan

Staff was friendly and helpful Were willing to provide breakfast after hours when we got back to hotel after Bromo Housekeeping did not clean our room The shower water did not get very hot

Dusun Jogja Village Inn

Yogyakarta

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Kota Gede District, Plaosan and Sewon Temples, Prambanan Temple and Ramayana Show

Yogyakarta

Loved having a private guide to teach us more about the history! We got to explore the Sewon temples without many tourists because not many people walk past Prambanan. Definitely worth it! The Ramayana show included a 3 course dinner with a beautiful view of Prambanan Temple lit up at night.

Visit Borobudur Temple, Pawon Temple, Mendut Temple, and Yogyakarta Market

Yogyakarta

Loved having a private guide to teach us more about the history!

Overall it was a very interesting trip with a lot of beautiful things to see and new memories being created. All the drivers and guides were friendly and always helpful. The standard of the accommodations booked were up to my expectations.

I’m so happy with the Bali service of kimkim it’s beyond words! My guide Yohanes & driver showed me Bali the way I always wanted to see it. They were amazing!

Bali is beautiful and I really enjoyed the different places visited. The choice of the location was great because the sceneries was very different at each places.
I greatly enjoyed the accommodations at each of the location. They were very comfortable and well located. Having a guide and a driver was very convenient and time effective for our vacations.
The Gili's beaches and the sunrise hike at Mt Batur was probably some of the highlights of the trip.
I also highly enjoyed swimming in Gili's water, seeing the Monkey's in Ubud and the fresh food in Bali.

Here are some constructive suggestion for improvement:
- We had on several locations difficulties to find the driver. It might be effective if he/she wears a recognisable T-shirt and/or banner.
- The sunrise hike schedule was too buffered: we hiked up in less than 2 hours and then had to wait for 2 hours for the sunrise
- While the description of the trip itinerary is great to book the trip, it would be convenient to have a calendar-based summary of the trip once booked with the critical information needed every day: departure/arrival time and location, accommodation address, contact number, activities proposed ...

Nadia, our specialist, was very helpful in booking our trip to Bali. After a couple of messages, we had a fantastic trip plan ready to book. She also helped us during our trip with recommendations and booking transportations for an extra person who joined last minute.

Our guide John and driver Benny were fabulous. They took us everywhere on the itinerary and even included extra stops. It was a lot of fun visiting Bali. They were very knowledgeable and flexible. Skipping an activity, leaving earlier and other last-minute changes were not an issue.

Highlights of the trip were Mt Batur hike at sunrise and Gili Trawangan, great car-free island, where we enjoyed snorkeling with turtles, swimming in crystal clear water and glorious sunsets every night.

Couple things could have been better:
- I couldn't find my driver at the airport, I had to take a taxi. Luckily Nadia made up for it and comped us the value.
- We didn't really enjoy Candidasa. The hotel was very average compared to the others. Walking on the beach, we've counted 10 unsightly oil tankers and an oil terminal. Not very appealing.

We had an amazing time in Bali. We planned the trip with Ayu from KimKim and later communicated with Thomas who seamlessly continued where Ayu left off. Our driver Agun was most helpful throughout the trip, friendly and always showing us the best. And if we had any questions during the trip Thomas was available on Whatsapp, which made the experience easier as it was our first time in Indonesia. We can't wait to go back to Bali again!

Ayu was responsive and had put together a nice itinerary. She was quick to help us upgrade at our last hotel.

Some of the places that stood out were the monkey forest and sideman, and the last resort, samabe, was stunning and good value. The local day was also very nice. The best experience we had was planned from the hotel, samabe, which was paragliding. Biggest highlight of the trip.

Though it was great to see some of the main attractions like the temples, I think we would have liked to include some more off the beaten track locations if we were to do it again.

Our driver, Gustu, was kind and punctual. We’d definitely recommend him.

Ayu did a perfect job planning our 3 weeks Indonesia trip (Bali, Java, and Nusa Penida).
She was very responsive to our needs and requests, and her choices of drivers and guides were excellent. About half of the trip was in various parts of Bali, and we only had a driver in that part. Our driver's name was Agus, and in our view he did a very exceptional job with our trip. The only reason he was a driver and not a guide was, his English is a bit limited, but it was more than enough for us. (Agus knows Japanese and is often a guide for Japanese groups). Agus was very informative and friendly, and at the end of the trip he was a dear friend to all of us. The remaining guide/driver choices of Ayu were also excellent; we had no difficulties during the entire 3 weeks(from landing to Bali to taking off). I highly recommend both Ayu as a travel specialist, and Agus as a guide/driver.

I booked a trip to Bali for my honeymoon. We found the trip was overall very enjoyable. Ayu was very responsive before and during our trip. We began our stay in Ubud at the Kayon Jungle Resort and it was most memorable. They upgraded us to a Premium Suite as a surprise. It was one of the nicest places we've ever stayed in, and the staff were so considerate to our needs. Highly recommended if you are looking for the real Bali honeymoon experience.
We decided to go more casual for the rest of the trip, and all the hotels were clean and comfortable. The only complaint we had a few times was in regards to privacy. Any couple, especially a honeymooning one, values sound insulation. Unfortunately our stay in Gili Air at the Villa Karang and in Canggu at Frii Echo Hotel did not provide that. In both hotels, you could hear your neighbors as if they are next to you, which was not ideal for us.
However the Puri Lumbung Cottages in Munduk were a dream (we loved our stay in Munduk, we recommend booking a coffee roasting tour with the hotel), and my husband surprised me with a room upgrade at the Jimbaran Bay Beach hotel so the room was very nice and overlooked the water.
Our driver Gung Man was excellent and very considerate. The car was comfortable and had working A/C, perfect for napping between locations.
Our guide in our trek up Kawah Ijen, Mamu, was great. He was very patient, especially at the beginning when we were still very tired (we did the sunrise hike, so we got up at 1am). Unfortunately there was a downpour of rain that blocked our sunrise and it was freezing cold when we got to the summit, but that's just bad luck.
Overall it was a lovely and memorable honeymoon, we had a great time exploring Bali and recommend Ayu, Shanti Travel, and Kimkim to anyone who wants to go.

Awesome experience!! Ayu took care of everything.

Like previous trips, everything was great and handled expertly by our KimKim team (Nadia). Everything went according to plan and all recommendations were spot on and excellent. Nadia event went the extra mile for us in helping get a stranded bag to us at the airport during a tight connection. I would recommend KimKim to anyone who wants the help of a travel expert and all details taken care of. Great product!!

Blair

My Bali trip has been a dream. Beautiful island, warm and friendly local people, rich culture. Our local specialist Ayu had been so wonderful throughout the consultation and booking process. She advised and helped us book everything we needed/asked for to make sure we have a wonderful vacation. Our driver Krisna Arimbawa had been above and beyond our expectation. He was so friendly, resourceful, helpful and always with a big smile. Nusa Penida is so worth the trip to visit. Highly recommend the Authentic Balinese Day - you will get to meet and experience the humble and wonderful lives of a local Balinese family (they were absolutely wonderful, warm and loving).

Our guide Tony and driver Daniel were fabulous. They took care of everything we needed and wanted. For example we had never had the opportunity to taste durian. Daniel knew a particular fruit stand that sold the best. He drove us through heavy traffic to find it. Tony made sure the fruit vendor sold us a tree ripened fruit. It was a very interesting taste. They recommended restaurants for us to try and took us there to compare menus. One evening we went to see the classical dance. It was pouring rain. Daniel sat in our hotel lobby while we changed and drove us there so we would not have to order a taxi.

The activities were well suited to our interests. We enjoyed the archeological sites, markets, palaces and batik. The birdwatching and cycling through the small village were highlights. Whenever we wanted to stop and take photographs Daniel accommodated us.

The trip was AMAZING! So great to see and explore so much of east Java in such a short amount of time; Plateau Ijen, Mt. Bromo, Yojakarta, Borobudur and more :) The landscape is breathtaking (especially the sunrise over Mt Bromo) and I found myself time and time again in awe of the lush green surroundings.

A few things to call out - 1) underestimated the amount of time you spend traveling from one spot to another due to bad traffic, a lot of time spent in a car, and 2) the travel agency was a primarily french agency, so challenges finding an english speaking guide for our group - should have more explicitly called that out from the start.

Ayu was so helpful and professional in booking our trip to Bali. With all the information available online, it is overwhelming to know where to go or what to do. She gave us invaluable information on which beach city was the least touristy and helped us come up with an itinerary that minimized travel time. Our Guide Leni and Driver Mady were so warm, personable and helpful throughout our trip. It was an amazing experience.